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The gold market continues to attract attention as prices push back to $2,000 an ounce, with many analysts now saying that the precious metal could be on its way to all-time highs.
However, as a global monetary metal, gold has already hit all-time highs in some currencies this year, with the latest being the Australian dollar, rallying briefly to A$3,159. Reflecting the broader market, gold has been pushing higher against the Aussie dollar as Israel’s war with Hamas continues to create significant chaos in the Middle East.
“The conflict between Israel and Palestine over the Gaza Strip is still deteriorating, prompting the flight to gold,” said Dr. Sandra Close, a director for Melbourne-based gold consultants Surbiton Associates. “Time and again, gold has proved to be an important safe haven during times of international conflict and uncertainty.”
Analysts note that gold’s all-time high will provide solid support for Australia’s gold mining sector. The country is the world’s third top gold producer.
In a report published last month, Surbiton said that Australian miners produced 80 tonnes of gold in the third quarter, an increase of eight tonnes, or 11%, from the second quarter.
“The gold output for the 2022/2023 financial year totaled around 306 tonnes, some 10 tonnes, or nine percent, lower than in the previous financial year,” Surbiton said in the report.
Close noted that better weather through Australia’s winter months allowed gold producers to process higher-grade ore. She added that at current prices, the sector is worth around $30 billion.
The Australian dollar is just the latest currency to lose value against gold.
The precious metal continues to hit fresh new highs against the Japanese yen on a daily basis. One ounce of gold is now worth ¥296,735.90.
Gold is also trading at record highs against the Chinese yuan at CNY14,488.70 an ounce.
Gold has seen significant Asian demand in recent weeks. Analysts note that Japanese investors want to protect their purchasing power as the yen has seen substantial weakness in global currency markets.
At the same time, Chinese investors are turning to the yellow metal to protect themselves from a slowing economy.
In a recent interview with Kitco News, market strategists at the World Gold Council said that global investors should monitor these growing trends in these two Asian Markets.
Gold prices ending the week around $2,000 as geopolitical uncertainty overshadows rising bond yields
“I think what is driving gold demand in Asia is global geopolitical risks and capital flight being triggered by the prospect of a weak Chinese economy,“ said John Reade, chief market strategist at the WGC.
“Many Chinese investors have built massive real estate positions in their portfolios and now they are looking to diversify and gold is the next logical asset to own,“ added Joseph Cavatoni, North American market strategist.
The two analysts also said that Japan could be a major source of physical demand in the new year.
“This could become a significant trend for the global market as Japanese consumers have a lot of cash savings, which makes sense when you have decades of deflation,“ said Reade.
Although the global gold market is priced in U.S. dollars, both Read and Cavatoni noted the fact that the yellow metal has hit record highs in multiple currencies this past year is a strong signal that global demand remains healthy.
By
Neils Christensen
For Kitco News
